Originally Posted By tonyanton I agree...everyone is going for that "modern" "sparse" Apple store look.
Originally Posted By dagobert Disney Village's entrance arch is goint to be removed to make place for something new. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.disneygazette.fr/gazette-disney-village-destruction-arche-ratatouille-meeting-2013-news-1283.html">http://www.disneygazette.fr/ga...283.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert Disney Village's entrance arch is goint to be removed to make place for something new. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.disneygazette.fr/gazette-disney-village-destruction-arche-ratatouille-meeting-2013-news-1283.html">http://www.disneygazette.fr/ga...283.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I'd be lying if I said I'll miss it!!!<<< I don't miss it as well. However the whole Disney Village needs a placemaking.
Originally Posted By dagobert I like the department store look of WoDS a lot and that's why I think they should apply that look to all DV buildings. currently only Starbucks and WoDS look nice.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I agree that DV needs a makeover, but I like that it has a very distinct look right now. If they redo it, I hope that they're able to make it stand out from any number of shopping centers elsewhere, since it should feel like part of the Disney experience. WOD looks nice enough, but the building doesn't really do much (other than the character panels near the roof) to set it apart from any number of other stores. DTD at WDW and DLR both have very distinct (and nice) styles that stand out, so I'm sure they could come up with something nice for DLRP too And I'm not sure who that group is at the bottom of the page linked above, but it seems very French that one of their 'official' group photos is standing in a planter
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>And I'm not sure who that group is at the bottom of the page linked above, but it seems very French that one of their 'official' group photos is standing in a planter<<<< It's so annoying that people stand in a planter. Unfortunately that is very common in Paris. At least in March CMs tried to keep the visitors away from the planters.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I agree that DV needs a makeover, but I like that it has a very distinct look right now. If they redo it, I hope that they're able to make it stand out from any number of shopping centers elsewhere, since it should feel like part of the Disney experience. WOD looks nice enough, but the building doesn't really do much (other than the character panels near the roof) to set it apart from any number of other stores. DTD at WDW and DLR both have very distinct (and nice) styles that stand out, so I'm sure they could come up with something nice for DLRP too<<< I have never been to DTD Anaheim, but the look of DTD Florida was okay. It wasn't that special. What I liked the most about DTD was the huge area. In Paris it's basically a street with shops and restaurant on each side. The WoDS in Florida is, at least in my opinion, not as nice and beautiful as the one in France.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I remember well the hoopla surrounding the design of "Festival Disney" (The Disney Village) in France when it first opened. It designed by Frank Gehry and Eisner was quite proud to have him, along with an assortment of other notable starchitects, involved in the Euro Disney project. After all of the hype it was a genuine let down when I finally made it to ED and took my first stroll through Disney Village. The place lacks heart and is uninviting - the exact opposite of what a Disney branded project should feel like. The subsequent mediocre performance of the place since it opened hasn't come as much of a surprise to me. On another note, they got it right (mostly) with the DTD Anaheim development. It's a great place to stroll, people watch, grab a bite to eat, and enjoy entertainment, day or night.
Originally Posted By dagobert DV isn't very welcoming and it just looks terrible with those ugly coloured illuminated balloons. DV should expand towards Lake Disney. I think it would be great to enjoy a cup of coffee, a drink or a nice meal in an outdoor seating aera facing towards the lake. The existing restaurant and bars should expand the outdoor areas. There's only the Sports Bar with a big outdoor area.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Personally I'd like to see them give it a completely transformation into something that feels a bit more organic, intimate and European. The whole thing suffers from trying to be a LA-hip-entertainment-industrial-warehouse district and completely lacks authenticity. I've never been a fan of Frank Gehry and Disney Village is probably one of his least admirable projects.
Originally Posted By u k fan Let's be honest all of DV's various incarnations can't hide the fact that it's a big strip of concrete with uninspired buildings on either side. Tearing it down and starting again would be a nice idea. It really needs some placemaking!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Tearing it down and starting again would be a nice idea. It really needs some placemaking!!!<<< Unfortunately that's too expansive and isn't going to happen. >>>Personally I'd like to see them give it a completely transformation into something that feels a bit more organic, intimate and European. The whole thing suffers from trying to be a LA-hip-entertainment-industrial-warehouse district and completely lacks authenticity. I've never been a fan of Frank Gehry and Disney Village is probably one of his least admirable projects.<<< I think it wasn't such a good idea to hire so many famous architects. The DLP Hotels lack a bit of Disney charme that you can find in Florida. Although I always enjoyed staying in the Santa Fe and Sequoia Lodge, these hotels are just not as nice as the ones in Florida. The same for DV. I think it's currently the most ugly part in the whole resort. They should either give each building its own special look, like they did already with Starbucks and King Ludwig's Castle, or they should give all buildings the same look.
Originally Posted By dagobert Free wi-fi at Disney's Hotel New York now available. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/Disney_ParisEN/status/354977055353470976">http://twitter.com/Disney_Pari...53470976</a> I'm still amazed that it took Disney so long to offer free wi-fi. That's already standard at all major hotels.
Originally Posted By leemac <<The place lacks heart and is uninviting - the exact opposite of what a Disney branded project should feel like. >> He won the Pritzker in '89 based largely off his work on a collection of unusual houses in California. His limited public works at the time was pretty much limited to the Air & Space exhibit building at the California Museum of Science and Industry and the Edgemar mall in Santa Monica. He didn't really explode until the early '90s and his work with warping titanium sheets really came along later. Gehry was stuck between a rock and a hard place with the Village as it needed to accommodate a lot of throughput traffic but the actual footprint is relatively small which is why he kept it largely open.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Aside from the fact that it's in a rather congested urban environment, DL's DTD in that a large portion of it is essentially the ground floor of the GCH. This is the only one of the Disney "town square" entertainment districts that actually feels like it could be a small village instead of a contrived tourist destination.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt OK, the first sentence I wrote made no sense at all after I made edits. Basically what I meant to say is that the hotel rooms above the shops at DTD Anaheim lend an authentic sense of urban character to the place that's lacking in the other entertainment projects that Disney has done.
Originally Posted By dagobert When building DLP, WDI/Frank Gehry should have incorporated Lake Disney into DV. Water always brings in a lot of tranquility.
